A Series of Fortunate Events
by The Lost
Summary: AU. Carter and Abby meet and face an array of different and difficult situations.
1. Lost Luggage

**A Series of Fortunate Events**  
Chapter 1: _Lost Luggage_

Dr. Abby Lockhart trudged with long strides to the hospital. It was was her first day back the hospital since her OB nursing days, and she wasn't too thrilled. Her flight had been delayed about six hours. Her hotel reservations did not go though for some weird reason. Half her luggage was on the wrong flight and would be returned within 48 hours. All she had was her carry-on with the bare essentials. It was not her day at all.

She pushed through the doors and barely missed a fight. Wonderful, welcome back to Chicago. The windy, its below zero half the time, city. She managed to get to the door, and then came the little issue of getting inside. She walked up to the nurse's station, and quickly muttered something about being the new attending. A button was pushed and she was let inside.

She walked to what looked like the main desk, except it was cluttered with a mess of Christmas decorations and food. Yes. That was definitely the main desk. She dropped her bags and looked around, hoping to find someone that actually worked there, not a naked patient running around looking drugged. She was looking around when she heard a voice call her attention.

"Excuse me, can I help you?"

She nodded her head, the man had a gentle smile and patient brown eyes.

"Yeah, actually. I'm looking for Dr. Carter."

He held out his hand and she took it.

"I'm Carter. You must be Dr. Lockhart?"

She nodded her head, a little embarrassed.

"Abby's fine."

"If we're on a first name basis already, I'm John."

She was over two hours late for her shift. She watched him look at her with a smile playing on his lips. She was wondering what he was thinking. He was probably a little angry at the fact she was late. That's really unprofessional of her. But what she didn't know was that he was thinking of getting to know her alot better.

"I'm so sorry. My flight was delayed, my baggage misplaced, my hotel reservation fell through, and I think I'm going to go insane if I don't get a cup of coffee in me."

She watched him reach down for her carry-ons and throw them over his shoulder.

"I can't promise you the best coffee, but it will at least wake you up."

She followed him down the hallway shaking the remaining snow out of her coat and hair. It was starting to be an interesting day. He led her into what was presumably the lounge. She saw a couch, a few chairs, a table, fridge, and some other necessities. He placed her things on the table and walked to the end of the row of lockers.

"This one's yours. I'll write down the combo in a second."

She nodded her head and started to take off her soaked coat. Boston seemed a hell of a lot better temperature wise at the moment. Cold, wet snow. Why couldn't she find a nice job opening, in say, Florida?

"You got the best locker. It used to be mine."

"Wonderful. I hope your not planning to pillage through my stuff."

"No, not pillage. Just take the good stuff."

She rolled her eyes as she stuffed her scarf into her coat pocket. She watched him walk over to the sink and grab two cups of coffee. He poured in the steaming brown liquid and turned toward her.

"Sugar? Cream?"

"Cream, no sugar."

He poured it in and stirred it as he walked over to her. He took his own cup and dumped a few spoons of sugar into it. She gave him a strange look, and he started to laugh.

"It's been a long day. I need the sugar rush."

She took a sip of her coffee and it instantly warmed her freezing body. Well, at least she got coffee out of the deal. He walked to the door and opened it. She looked at him for a second before realizing she was supposed to take the cup and walk though the door.

"I've got to give you a tour and introduce you to the staff before I let you loose."

_Author's Notes: Please take a sec and review? Thanks!_


	2. Look Again

**A Series of Fortunate Events  
**Chapter 2: _Look Again_

Abby didn't fall onto the plastic couch, she collapsed. She left a private hospital to be worked to the bone in a public one. And it was only her first day. You'd think they'd be a little light on her, but they weren't. They beat and bruised her like one of their own. She fit in, of course. She didn't take any crap from anyone. She took control in the trauma. Impressed her boss and everyone around her. They found out they could rely on her. She was tired out as all hell, though. A brush of cold air splashed her body and she looked up to the opening door. Carter stepped in, taking off his stethoscope and lab coat. She hadn't really looked at him as closely before. Now she had the chance. They were both off, and he wasn't her boss any longer. She saw the mass of uncombed dark brown hair on his head, badly in need of a trim. She saw the tired eyes, laugh lines, and five-o-clock shadow on his face. His arms were well-built, and his frame small but strong. Her eyes slid to his hands, and then she stopped looking altogether. There was a ring on his finger, a gold band, glittering in the pale light. She threw her head back against the hard padding, so much for that idea.

"Did you figure out what you're going to do for the night?"

He grabbed her attention once again and he made his way closer to her. She shook her head lightly, keeping her eyes closed. She didn't know what the hell she was going to do. She was stranded in a semi-unfamiliar city, with no clothes, no relatives, no friends, and no place to crash for the night. She would end up getting a hotel room in some dingy little dump in the middle of a drug-addict infested alley. How wonderful.

"Well, if you want, I have an extra room. You could stay the night and then tomorrow figure out what to do."

The offer was tempting. Too bad she didn't feel like barging in on his wife and kids. He probably had kids. At least two.

"No, I couldn't impose. Your wife probably wouldn't be too happy at the thought of you bringing a stranger home."

"First off, I'm divorced, my wife lives in Burr Ridge. Second, you're not a stranger. I've known you for eight hours already."

"Oh yeah, that counts as life-long acquaintances these days, I forgot." She smirked, quite proud of the comeback.

"I'm a good judge of character. I hired you, remember?"

She knew he hired her, but he didn't know the circumstances. He didn't know that she had a little affair with the Chief of Staff, and he would do anything to keep her from telling his wife. Not that she would ever do that. It was a drunken stupor. It meant nothing to either one of them. Much like her ex-husband meant little to her. She sat up and gave him a quizzical look

"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?"

"No."

She pulled herself off the couch and literally wobbled to her locker. She was cold, tired, hungry, and homeless. Not a good combination at all. He better plan on feeding her, or his fridge is going to be ransacked sometime in the middle of the morning for edibles. He came over to her to help her put on her coat, but she shrugged him off. She didn't need the help. It was nice and all, but she's used to not having the gentlemen type around. She was the only female physician in the ER back at BU. She learned to fend for herself. She grabbed her purse and followed him out the door. This was gearing up to be an interesting stay. Not to mention the gossip that would be revolving around them when they returned. Obviously he's still attached to his wife, he wears his wedding ring. Gossip makes the world go round.

_Author's Notes: Review, please?_


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